For many people, it's disconcerting to look down at a plate and see something staring back up at you.

But a foodie trend coming out of East Asia is all about people creating fun faces, for their food.

Called "character bento" and "chigiri-pan" (Japanese for "tear-away bread") these rice balls, noodle plates and buns feature characters and faces. They're part of what's called kawaii ("cuteness"), a widespread theme in Japanese pop culture, and they're becoming hugely popular on social media. BBC Trending spoke to two popular food Instagrammers who shared photos of their creations.

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"Making bento was more of a necessity for me as I needed to pack lunch for work," says Shirley Wong, who blogs under the name Little Miss Bento. "When I began making character bento, it was actually a spur of the moment decision, an attempt to combine two things that I love - kawaii culture and cooking."

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"The ingredients really vary depending on bento design and characters that I am trying to achieve. But I would say that some of the common items you might find would include Japanese rice, seaweed, egg and vegetables," she says.

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"In the past the trend was limited to Japan," she says, but recently character bentos have been taking off internationally.

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Wong, who now lives in Singapore, says she has no qualms about eating her own creations. "But strangely when I visit theme cafes back in Japan, I find it difficult to eat the food when it's not made by me."